The main motifs of Pushkin's lyrics. Themes and motifs of Pushkin's lyrics

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin - the world-famous poet, prose writer, essayist, playwright and literary critic - went down in history not only as the author of unforgettable works, but also as the founder of a new literary Russian language. At the mere mention of Pushkin, the image of a primordially Russian national poet immediately arises. The poet Pushkin is an internationally recognized genius, the lexicon of his works is unique, the imagery of his lyrics is wide and absolutely unique, the depth of the sensual and philosophical component of his poems amazes and excites readers of all countries and all generations. But still, Pushkin's lyrics deserve special attention, the versatility and imagery of which has not yet been fully studied.

Color of Pushkin's lyrics

Pushkin's lyrics are his poetic biography and, at the same time, a creative chronicle of the everyday and spiritual life of those distant times. The war of 1812 and the Decembrist uprising of 1825, serfdom and dreams of "holy liberty", loved ones, friends and enemies, "beautiful moments"life and sadness and "sadness of the past days" - all these moments are reflected in writing in Pushkin's poems, messages, elegies, poetic tales, songs, epigrams. And all these themes and motifs of Pushkin's lyrics are so harmoniously combined by the author that not the slightest tension or dissonance is felt during the reading of his works. This indescribable inner unity of Pushkin's lyrics was extremely aptly and precisely defined by V. Belinsky: "The whole color of Pushkin's lyrical and any other poetry is the inner human beauty and humanity that warms the soul."

Pushkin's love lyrics

Pushkin's love lyrics are rightly called "an encyclopedia of love experiences." It contains a wide palette of feelings: from the beautiful and bewitching moment of the first quivering date to the complete disappointment and loneliness of the soul devastated by passions. Love in Pushkin's lyrics is very different. This is an ideal feeling that elevates the soul of any person, and just an accidental hobby that suddenly arises, but just as quickly passes, and a burning passion, accompanied by outbreaks of jealousy and resentment. The main motifs of Pushkin's love lyrics are light falling in love, adult and meaningful feeling, passion, jealousy and pain, resentment and disappointment.

Poem “I remember a wonderful moment…”

Pushkin's most famous poem "I remember a wonderful moment …" the author wrote during his exile in Mikhailovsky. These words are addressed to Anna Petrovna Kern. Pushkin first saw her in St. Petersburg in 1819 and was carried away by her. Six years later, he met her again at the neighbors, the landowners of the village of Trigorskoye, where Anna came to visit her aunt. The feeling of love in the soul of the poet flared up with renewed vigor. Before Anna left Trigorskoye, Pushkin presented her with a piece of note paper folded in four. Unfolding it, Anna saw poetic lines that would later become a masterpiece of Russian lyrics and glorify her name forever.

Compositional structure of the poem

The lyrical plot reflects the main biographical milestones of the relationship between Pushkin and Kern, the main thing here is the motive of recollection in Pushkin's lyrics. Compositionally, the poem is divided into three separate semantic parts. Each of them, in turn, consists of two quatrains - the same size quatrains. In the first part, the lyrical hero recalls the "wonderful moment" when he saw the beauty and fell in love with her forever. The second describes the years of parting - a time "without a deity and without rage." In the third - a new meeting of lovers, a new flash of feelings, in which "both the deity, and inspiration, and life, and tears, and love." For the lyrical hero of the poem, love is like a true miracle, a divine revelation. This is how the poet Pushkin himself felt at that time, it was this feeling that lived in him then, and he lived it without looking back.

Poem "I loved you…"

Another one of his famous poems "I loved you…" Pushkin wrote in 1829 along with another of his masterpieces - "What's in your namemine?..” Initially, the work was included in the album of Karolina Sobańska, with whom the poet was hopelessly in love for a long time. A distinctive feature of the verse "I loved you …" is that the lyrical feeling in it is transmitted extremely laconic, but surprisingly aphoristic and expressive. There are almost no metaphors, hidden images, polysyllabic epithets that cut the ear, with which the poets of those times usually depicted their feelings for their beloved, are almost absent in the poem. However, the image of love that arises before the reader from the lines of the poem is full of magical poetry and charm, unusual light sadness. The culmination of the work, reflecting the main motives of Pushkin's lyrics in the love theme, are the two final lines. In them, the poet not only says that he “loved so sincerely, so tenderly,” but also wishes the object of his past adoration happiness with a new chosen one with the words “how God grant you be loved to be different.”

Pushkin's landscape lyrics

Nature has always been an inexhaustible source of inspiration for Pushkin. His poems reflect numerous images of pictures of nature and the elements, various seasons, of which the poet loved autumn most of all. Pushkin showed himself to be a real master of landscape detail, a singer of Russian landscapes, picturesque corners of the Crimea and the Caucasus. The main themes, motifs of Pushkin's lyrics are always, one way or another, "tied" with the surrounding nature. It is conceived by the poet as an independent aesthetic value, which is admired, however, the vast majority of Pushkin's landscape poems are built in the formcomparison of pictures of nature and situations of human life. Natural images often serve as a contrasting or, conversely, consonant accompaniment to the thoughts and actions of the lyrical hero. As if the pictures of nature in the poet's lyrics act as a living literary background. She acts as a poetic symbol of his dreams, aspirations, spiritual values defended by him.

Poem "To the Sea"

Pushkin began writing this poem in 1824 in Odessa, already aware of his new exile in Mikhailovskoye, where he later completed work on the poem. The main motives of Pushkin's lyrics, which have a natural orientation, always run in parallel - natural phenomena and the feelings and experiences of the poet himself. In the poem "To the Sea", farewell to the sea distances becomes the basis for the poet's lyrical reflections on the tragedy of human fate, on the fatal force that historical circumstances have over it. The sea, its free element for the poet is a symbol of freedom, evokes associations with the figures of two personalities who were the rulers of thoughts and the personification of human power. This very power of the circumstances of daily life seems to be as strong and free as the element of the sea. These are Napoleon and Byron, with whom Pushkin compares himself. This motif of remembrance in Pushkin's lyrics, where he refers to departed geniuses, is inherent in many of his poems. There are no more geniuses, but the fate of the poet continues in all its tragedy.

Tyranny and education - a contradiction in the poem

In the poem, in addition tonatural motives, the poet brings together two concepts: tyranny and education. Like other romantics of that time, Pushkin implies in his work that civilization, introducing a new education system, at the same time spoils the naturalness and sincerity of simple human relations, controlled by the dictates of the heart. Saying goodbye to the free and powerful sea element, Pushkin, as it were, says goodbye to the romantic period of his work, which is being replaced by a realistic worldview. Freedom-loving motifs in Pushkin's lyrics increasingly flicker in his later works. And even if at first it seems that the central core of the poem is a landscape, a description of natural phenomena, one should look for a hidden meaning associated with the poet’s desire to release his craving for freedom, to spread the wings of his inspiration to the fullest, without fear and without looking back at the strict censorship of those rebellious times.

Pushkin's philosophical lyrics

Pushkin's philosophical lyrics contain the poet's understanding of the imperishable themes of human existence: the meaning of life, death and eternity, good and evil, nature and civilization, man and society, society and history. An important place in it belongs to the themes of friendship (especially in poems dedicated to lyceum comrades), devotion to the ideals of goodness and justice (in messages to former lyceum students and Decembrist friends), sincerity and purity of moral relations (in poems reflecting on the meaning of life, about relatives). and people close to the poet). Philosophical motifs accompany the poet's lyrics the more often the older he gets. The deepest philosophicalPushkin's last poems, written shortly before his death. It was as if the poet, anticipating his departure, was afraid of not telling, not thinking and not feeling, he wanted to pass on to his descendants all of himself without a trace.

Pushkin's civil lyrics

Civil themes in Pushkin's lyrics are revealed through the motives of love for the motherland, through a sense of national pride in its historical past, through a strong protest against autocracy and serfdom, which threatens the primordial freedom of a person as an individual. The main motives of Pushkin's lyrics of a civil orientation are the themes of freedom and inner human strength. Freedom is not only political, which consists in serving high social ideals based on the principles of equality and justice, but also the inner freedom of each person, which no one can take away. The main component of civic poems is the condemnation of tyranny and any form of enslavement of a person, the glorification of inner, personal freedom, which manifests itself in a clear and principled moral position, self-esteem and a spotless conscience.

Poet and Poetry Theme

Along with civil there are also religious motives in Pushkin's lyrics. In moments of doubt and internal spiritual discord, the poet resorted to such images. It was the Christian component that seemed to bring him even closer to the worldview of the people. Poems dedicated to the theme of the poet and poetry are a kind of synthesis of the lyrics of philosophical and civil sound. What is the purpose of the poet and the meaning of the lyrics itself - these are the two main questionswhich initiate Pushkin's reflections on the problems of the place and role of the poet in society, the freedom of poetic creativity, his relationship with the authorities and his own conscience. The pinnacle of Pushkin's lyrics, dedicated to the theme of the poet and poetry, was the poem "I erected a monument to myself not made by hands …". The work was written in 1836 and was not published during Pushkin's lifetime. The theme and individual plot motifs of Pushkin's poem originate from the famous ode of the ancient Roman poet Horace "To Melpomene". From there, Pushkin took the epigraph to his work: “Exegi monumentum” (“I erected a monument”).

Message to future generations

The main motives of Pushkin's lyrics of those times are a message to the representatives of future generations. In terms of its content, the poem “I erected a monument to myself not made by hands …” is a kind of poetic testament that contains a self-assessment of the poet’s work, his merits to society and descendants. The significance that his poetry will have for future generations, Pushkin symbolically correlates with the monument, which ascended above the “Pillar of Alexandria”. The Pillar of Alexandria is a monument to the ancient Roman commander Pompey in Egyptian Alexandria, but for the then reader it was previously associated with the monument to Emperor Alexander, erected in St. Petersburg in the form of a tall pillar.

Classification of the main motifs of Pushkin's lyrics

The table below shows very clearly the main motifs of Pushkin's lyrics:

Genreslyrics	Motive
Philosophy	Motive of freedom - both internal and civil
Human Relationships	Motif of love and friendship, devotion and strength of earthly human bonds
Attitude towards nature	The motive of proximity with nature, its comparison with man and his inner world
Religion	Religious motif, especially close to the reader of those times
Poetry	The motive is deeply philosophical, giving an answer to the question of the place of the poet and poetry in the world of literature as a whole

This is just a general description of the main themes of the works of the great poet. Every single motif of Pushkin's lyrics cannot be contained in the table, the poetry of the genius is so multifaceted and comprehensive. Many literary critics admit that Pushkin is different for everyone, everyone discovers new and new facets of his work. The poet was counting on this, speaking in his notes about the desire to awaken a storm of emotions in the reader, to make him think, compare, experience and, most importantly, feel.